Thanksgiving cooking timeline: what to make when

The Thanksgiving cooking timeline at a glance

Each job sits on a day when doing it early costs nothing in taste or safety. Pin this table to the fridge and cross things off.

Everything before Thursday is there to keep the oven empty on the day, because the turkey holds it for 3 to 5 hours.

Two weeks out: what goes in the freezer

Freeze the things that come out tasting as they went in. Mostly doughs.

• Pie dough. King Arthur Baking suggests freezing it rolled into the pie pan, then thawing it overnight in the fridge.
• Unbaked fruit pies, wrapped. They bake from frozen.
• Roll dough, frozen after kneading and before it rises.
• Bread for the stuffing, whole or cubed.
• A gravy base from roasted wings and stock. FSIS gives gravy 2 to 3 months frozen. Our post on gravy without drippings has the method.

Mashed potatoes freeze too, and can you freeze mashed potatoes says when to add the dairy.

This is also when you decide the turkey's size (how much turkey per person has the numbers) and its thaw day. FSIS allows about 24 hours in the fridge for every 4 to 5 pounds:

A thawed turkey keeps 1 to 2 more days, so a day early costs nothing and a day late means a frozen middle on Thursday. The details are in how long a thawed turkey can stay in the fridge, and the rescue plan is cooking a partially frozen turkey.

Three days out: cranberry sauce and pie dough

Monday is for anything that keeps several days in the fridge.

Cranberry sauce first. NC State Extension says homemade sauce can be made up to 7 days ahead and kept in an airtight container in the fridge. If you'd rather freeze it, UMass Amherst says to use it within 2 months.

Pie dough you didn't freeze can be made now: King Arthur keeps wrapped dough in the fridge for up to 3 days, which lands it on Wednesday ready to roll. Do the shopping for the fresh things the same day, from a Thanksgiving grocery list sorted by aisle, and start a dry brine now if you're using one (dry brine or wet brine has the timing).

Leave Tuesday empty. The forgotten can of pumpkin lands there.

The day before: pies, casseroles and the fridge

Wednesday is the long day, and the oven is free all of it. Bake the pies first. Pumpkin and pecan pies keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge after baking, so Wednesday's pies are fine through Saturday.

• Assemble the casseroles in their baking dishes and refrigerate them, covered.
• Make the mashed potatoes and refrigerate them in a shallow container.
• Make the stuffing to bake on its own. Don't stuff the bird tonight. FSIS says bacteria can multiply in stuffing left inside a raw turkey overnight. Can you make stuffing ahead goes through bake, chill and reheat.
• Put the roasting pan and two casserole dishes in the cold oven and move the racks until they all fit. Nobody wants to do that around a hot turkey.
• Clear a fridge shelf for leftovers, set the table, and tape Thursday's schedule to a cupboard.

Thanksgiving morning: the oven schedule

Count back from dinner. The turkey's rest is when the sides go in. Plan the roast from the long end of the USDA range: a turkey that's done early rests longer under foil, and one that's done late keeps everyone waiting.

Times are from the USDA table as printed by University of Illinois Extension. Each one gets the turkey out by 1:45 PM. A stuffed bird needs about 30 minutes more. Here's the rest of the day for a 14-pound turkey:

One oven: how to fit everything in

On Thursday the oven does the turkey, then every side at once. Everything else moves.

• The stovetop takes the mashed potatoes, the gravy and any green vegetable you boil or sauté.
• A slow cooker on low can hold mashed potatoes that are already hot. FSIS advises against reheating cold food in one, so heat them on the stove first.
• The microwave takes the dish that didn't fit.
• When two sides want different temperatures, say 350°F and 400°F, bake both at 375°F and go by a thermometer and the color on top, since each recipe's time assumes its own temperature.
• Ask guests for dishes that never see your oven, like a salad or a pie. The potluck list splits a menu that way.

How to plan Thanksgiving in Hedgehog Chef

Everything above works on an index card. If your recipes are saved in Hedgehog Chef, the counting backwards is done for you.

• Put Monday's cranberry sauce, Wednesday's pies and Thursday's dinner on their own days in the meal planner. “Shop for this week” puts every planned recipe's ingredients on one shopping list sorted by aisle, scaled to the servings you planned, minus what's in your pantry.
• The free recipe scaler turns a stuffing for 6 into one for 14.
• On the day, Cook a meal takes the turkey, the stuffing, the sides and a serve time, and schedules every step backwards from it. You set how many ovens and burners you have and whether one or two people are cooking. An oven holds one temperature (within 10°F) and two dishes at a time, so when two dishes want the oven at different temperatures, one is moved earlier, and the plan warns you if that leaves a hot dish waiting. A coach shows what to do now and what's next.

Cook a meal plans one cooking session, so Monday to Wednesday are days you fill in the planner yourself. The “Thaw it tonight” reminder comes the evening before, which suits chicken thighs and is three days late for a 16-pound turkey: set a reminder of your own for the right day. Cooking times come from the steps in your recipes, and a step that says “roast until done” gets an estimate, so write your turkey's time from the table above into the recipe. There's no App Store or Google Play app yet. It runs in the browser. There's no free plan either: after a 14-day trial with no card, it's $5.99 a month for one person or $9.99 for two (see pricing).